


At the Barrel of a Gun

by DarkFairytale



Category: EastEnders (TV)
Genre: BAMF Ben, BAMF Callum, Canon-Typical Violence, Gun Violence, Hostage Situations, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sign Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-04-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:21:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23453161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkFairytale/pseuds/DarkFairytale
Summary: “Call him through,” Ritz demanded again, with a little more threat this time, pressing the muzzle of his gun up under Ben’s chin.Without a second’s hesitation, Ben met his eyes and growled, “No.”All Ben needed was for Callum to turn around and leave again. But luck apparently wasn’t on Ben’s side that day.
Relationships: Callum "Halfway" Highway/Ben Mitchell
Comments: 9
Kudos: 108





	At the Barrel of a Gun

Ben sighed heavily when he heard the footsteps of someone entering The Arches. It was _supposed_ to be the garage’s quietest day of the week, with only two cars booked in for repairs and no pick-ups, but he swore he had had every Tom, Dick, Harry _and_ their mothers through the door that morning, including his own mother, and Lola; mother of his child.

He sighed again, loudly, to show that he was _put upon_ and spun his chair away from the desk to face whoever it was that had decided to come and disturb his lunch break.

But then he saw who it was, and he stopped, his heart giving an uncomfortable jolt in his chest.

“Ritz?” he asked.

“Oh good, you remember me, then,” the man standing before him grinned with a mouth full of crooked teeth, and Ben didn’t have to look at the two guys that were standing behind Ritz to figure that Ritz hadn’t just stopped by for a friendly catch up. Ben could tell from Ritz’s tone. “Hiya Benny,”

“Hard to forget you, Ritz,” Ben said, acting unaffected and calm; the mask slipping easily into place as he leaned back in his seat. “Long time. How you been?”

“Oh, you know, in prison.”

Ritz was a bad guy that had contacts with a lot of bad people, from small timers like Tubbs up to big timers like Danny Hardcastle, because Ritz was one of the middlemen. So yeah, Ben had heard that Ritz was doing time. But as far as Ben had last heard, Ritz had plenty of time still left on his sentence.

“You’re out now though,” Ben gestured at him to emphasise the statement. “Good for you, mate.”

“That’s right, I’m out now,” Ritz said, tone still faux-pleasant, as he took another step towards Ben. He cocked his head, regarding Ben in interest. “So you can hear me then? ‘Cos a little birdy told me you’d gone deaf.”

He’d been in contact with Danny, then. Shit. “Your little birdy’s not singing recent information then.” Ben waved his hand idly by his ear; like the months of ringing, muffled noise hadn’t been the toughest thing he had ever had to experience. “All sorted.” He held a hand to his chest, acting flattered. “Thanks for the concern, though, Ritz. That’s really sweet.”

Ben had worked with Ritz only a few times in the past, but they had quickly built a strange rapport. Ritz had a manner that was unnervingly familiar, tactile, flirtatious even…hence his preference for calling Ben, ‘Benny’. It meant that Ben had previously found that a sarcastic, playful manner actually worked to calm and appease Ritz somewhat; like Ritz enjoyed it in some warped, bizarre way. But Ritz could be hard to break when determined, and Ben could tell just from Ritz’s expression and stance that Ben wasn’t going to be getting away with much this time. 

“Believe it or not, I’m not here to check on your welfare, Benny. I’m here to collect what I’m owed. Tell me you didn’t forget?”

“I didn’t forget, Ritz,” Ben replied easily. “I just didn’t know you were out, is all. So, as you can imagine, your little visit today has come as a bit of a surprise.”

“Well I’m here for what I’m owed. It’s time to pay up. You make it happen and you’ll never have to see me again.”

“Aww isn’t that a shame,” Ben pouted. When Ritz remained stony faced, Ben sighed, “What is it you want? Money?”

“I want you to do a job for me.”

“Ah, sorry, mate,” Ben held up his hands. “I thought you would’ve heard from Gazza and the boys – I assume that’s who told you where to find me - but I’m pretty much out of the game.” That was not strictly true. Ben still dipped his toe here and there, nothing too big or risky; he was a car salesman after all. But he hadn’t put any effort into correcting the word that Tubbs had spread back when Ben had tried quitting the crime life cold turkey. “And I don’t really fancy coming back into it all just to get thrown back in the slammer again.”

“This ain’t really a _choice_ I’m giving you. Sweet talk me all you like, it ain’t gunna work this time. I don’t care if you’re in or out, Ben. You owe me. So you’re gunna do whatever the hell I tell you to.”

Ben snorted, “I don’t think so.”

“I said, this ain’t really a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ kind of deal…” And there it was; Ritz had produced a gun from the back of his jeans. “It’s a ‘you do what I tell you to’ situation.”

“Woah, Ritz,” Ben quirked an eyebrow; refusing to let the mask slip, even though his heart instantly sped up with the thought that the last time Ben had been at the wrong end of a gun he had been shot by Hunter, and the last time he’d been at the right end of a gun he’d held one on his own dad on the boat. “Is that a gun in your hand or are you just happy to see me?”

“Don’t get cute with me, Ben,” Ritz said, “It’s been a long stint inside and I ain’t in the mood.”

“Message received, for both counts,” Ben nodded towards the gun. “That really ain’t necessary.”

“So you’ll do the job I have for you.”

“Didn’t you hear? Danny swore off working with the Mitchells last time he saw me…”

“Which is why you’re all the more appealing to work with now.”

Ben had no idea what this new beef was between Danny and Ritz, but he really _really_ didn’t want to be involved. Ritz was a risk at the best of times. He was a gamble that wasn’t worth Ben’s time or resources.

“Well I’m really sorry to disappoint you Ritz, but I…”

Ritz crossed the several paces left to where Ben sat, pressing the gun to his head. “I will shoot you,” he threatened, and his tone was quiet, intimate, in that strange way of his. “If you piss me off.” He leaned in close enough that Ben could feel his breath on his face. “Right through your pretty little head.” His eyes trailed over Ben’s face, before meeting Ben’s eyes triumphantly. “And I do so like being in charge. So don’t test me too much.”

Ben bared his teeth in a smile of defiance, “If you think you’re scaring me you’ve got another thing…”

But then Ben was interrupted by a voice shouting through from the front of the Arches; “Hey Ben! Ben, you there?”

Ben forced his expression to stay exactly the same. Through some kind of miracle he didn’t flinch, didn’t clench his jaw, didn’t shut his eyes in despair at hearing Callum’s voice come from the front of the garage. Not that it mattered that Ben masked the fact that yeah, now he was feeling a lot more scared; Callum’s call had more than caught Ritz’s attention.

His face still inches from Ben’s, Ritz smiled at Ben triumphantly. “Now who is that?” he asked, voice hushed, grin wide.

“He’s no-one,” Ben bit back quietly.

“I’m not stopping or anything!” Callum’s voice called again. “I made me and Stu some lunch and we had some left over and I figured you might want some!”

Ritz looked smug and Ben silently cursed Callum and his good, generous heart. It was going to get him in a whole load of trouble; a whole, dangerous load of it. Ben’s chest was feeling tight with the panic of having Callum a stone’s throw away from Ritz, his men and his gun.

“Are you sure about that?” Ritz whispered conspiratorially, still too close to Ben’s face for comfort; the man had never had much sense of personal space. “He’s clearly special enough that you’d lie about how well you know him. What’s his name?”

Ben remained silent.

“Call him through,” Ritz suggested instead, voice still hushed and dangerous as he stood upright to lift the gun and point it at Ben as more incentive to make him do what he was told.

“Ben?” Callum tried again, before Ben heard him say, “Huh,” to himself, and a sound that Ben assumed was Tupperware being placed on a car bonnet.

“Call him through,” Ritz demanded again, with a little more threat this time, pressing the muzzle of his gun up under Ben’s chin.

Without a second’s hesitation, Ben met his eyes and growled, “No.”

All Ben needed was for Callum to turn around and leave again. But luck apparently wasn’t on Ben’s side that day.

“Ben?” Callum called once more, voice unsure, like it was a last attempt to summon up his boyfriend because Ben had told Callum that he would be at the Arches all day.

Ben wanted to shout out, to warn Callum, but he knew that anything he said would make Callum come into the back regardless. If he told Callum he was busy and that he would see him later, Callum would come to see him anyway, like an excitable puppy. If he said anything out of the ordinary Callum would get suspicious and come to investigate what was wrong. If he warned Callum to run, Callum the hero would charge headfirst to Ben’s aid. Ben’s only hope was that if he stayed quiet, Callum would think Ben wasn’t there and would give up and leave.

Luck was not on Ben’s side.

“Or maybe we don’t have to,” Ritz murmured triumphantly, moving to stand behind Ben, hiding the gun from view, just as Callum wandered straight into the room.

Callum’s gaze immediately landed on Ben in the desk chair and the inevitably uneasy look on his face, before lifting to the strangers. Callum’s whole posture changed; his body tensed and his eyes and expression hardened.

“Who are you?” Callum asked, tone flat and guarded.

“I could ask you the same question,” Ritz returned faux-pleasantly.

Callum glanced back at Ben and Ben knew his boyfriend well enough to see the cogs in his mind turning. “I work in the local caf. Sometimes we drop food by for the mechanics. I can see you’re busy Ben, I can come back later…”

“Oh he’s smooth, ain’t he Benny?” Ritz sounded so damn smug. Because he knew as well as Ben that the second Callum ‘from the caf’ would leave the garage, he would be calling the police. “I’m sorry mate,” he said to Callum, “But somehow I don’t believe you. I hear our Ben here’s got a boyfriend; a tall, pretty boy. I’d say you fit the bill.”

“Didn’t know you actually had an eye for the fellas, Ritz,” Ben quipped, tone tight, “We could have hooked up ages ago.”

“Now, now, Ben, don’t brush this over lightly. This ain’t one of those situations. Is this him? This your boyfriend?” His tone made clear that he already knew he was right.

“Ben?” Callum asked, his tone wary now.

“Callum,” Ben started, “It’s alright. Me and Ritz and his boys have just had a little bit of a misunderstanding, but we’re gunna work this out. Ain’t that right Ritz?”

“That’s right,” Ritz agreed. “But your boy here is gunna help me get you to do what you’re told. Besides, I couldn’t let him leave here right now even if I wanted to, Benny, ‘cause a little birdy _also_ told me that your boyfriend is Old Bill.” With that, Ritz lifted his gun and displayed it to Callum by pressing it into Ben’s cheek.

Callum’s eyes went wide, truly understanding the severity of the situation. He held up his hands, to show he wasn’t a threat. “I ain’t the police!" Callum said, urgent quick, obviously horrified at seeing a gun against Ben’s face. “Didn’t even complete the training!”

“Looks like your little birdy is months behind, mate,” Ben said, gritting his teeth against the feeling of the gun against his face as his talked. He glared up at Ritz from the corners of his eyes. “You came here expecting me to be deaf and my boyfriend to be a boy in blue.”

Ritz looked irritated by having arrived with out-dated intel for all of two seconds before he seemed to get over it, giving a careless shrug. “He’s still your boyfriend though, that ain’t changed,” he said, tracing the gun almost fondly along Ben’s jaw. “And that’s all I need.” He then lifted the gun away from Ben, to point it at Callum instead.

Callum glanced at Ben; unmistakeable fear in his eyes.

“It’s alright Cal,” Ben reassured, his voice cracking slightly at the sight of the man he loved at gunpoint. “Just, just do what they say, ok? It’s gunna be fine.”

“That’s right Callum,” Ritz agreed. “You do what we say and you’re gunna be just fine.” Ritz swerved around Ben’s chair to approach Callum, his aim steady. And Ben couldn’t do a damn thing about it, not with Ritz’s thugs watching him so closely, ready to pounce if Ben so much as moved. And even then, Ritz was not the kind to make idle threats; he would definitely shoot them if he wanted to. “Look at the poor thing, Ben. Look what you’ve dragged him into.” Ritz came to a stop in front of Callum and traced the gun threateningly slowly down Callum’s face. “Jesus Christ, Benny, you’ve picked a soft one here. Eyes like a damn doe.” Callum always looked so damn innocent and earnest. It made him look like prey. Ritz had seen that clearly and was going to take absolute advantage of it. He pressed the gun into Callum’s temple and ordered him, “Get on your knees.”

Callum slowly obeyed, his long legs folding under him. Ben’s heart hammered, hands white-knuckling the arms of his chair.

“Now, Benny,” Ritz said, almost fondly, moving behind Callum, “Are you going to be a good boy and listen to the job you’re gunna do for me to repay your debt?”

Ben glanced up at Ritz and back down to Callum. His boyfriend was kneeling in the centre of the room, Ritz standing behind him, gun at Callum’s head, the two thugs standing either side of the room, slightly behind Ritz. All of them facing and looking at Ben.

Ben dropped his gaze back to Callum. Callum’s eyes were fixed on his own, wide…determined? His hands were held in front of him, like he was wringing them in concern, but when Ben paid more attention to them, he saw what Callum was doing.

“I’m listening,” Ben said, a desperate wobble in his voice, “Just, don’t hurt him, alright? I’ll do what you want.”

“I want you involved in a shipment I have coming in.”

“Cars?”

“Drugs.”

“Nah, mate. I don’t deal in that,” Ben said. “I deal cars. Legit business, now, actually. I told you, I’m out of the game.”

“And I’m bringing you back in. Because you owe me, Benny. And until you do…” Ritz grasped Callum’s hair in his hand, yanking Callum’s head back.

Ben lurched forwards in his seat, “Don’t hurt him.”

“I will hurt him,” Ritz vowed, “And then I will hurt you, if you don’t do what I want.”

Ben glanced once more at Callum. At the way he swallowed heavily; the movement more obvious with his head held back and his neck more exposed. He looked at Callum’s fidgeting hands, those big hands and those long fingers that he loved so much. Ben nodded.

“Yes. I’ll do it,” he agreed, “Alright? Yes.”

Ben was so sick of having Callum endangered by ghosts of his past; Keanu kidnapping him, Danny threatening him. So sick of feeling guilty for getting into these situations, even if Callum determined to get into them right alongside him.

Ritz grinned wide, smugly triumphant at having gotten his way. “That’s the spirit Benny. But,” he said, sadly, “How do I know that you’ll keep your word? Unless…” he waited, malicious, hand smoothing out of Callum’s messed hair to pet the side of his face. “Unless I take something as collateral until the job’s done…”

That’s all it took; the memory of Callum missing for days, not knowing where he was, if he was hurt, if he was even still alive. Calling for him, searching for him, _needing him_. Seeing him lying in that warehouse, unmoving and the whole time Ben hadn’t even been able to _hear_ him. That was all it took for Ben to launch up out of his seat.

Ritz immediately swung the gun up, presumably to train on Ben, but by that point, Callum had already kicked a leg back into Ritz, unbalancing him and snatching at the hand holding the gun, easily disarming the criminal.

Callum leapt to his feet, swinging around, putting himself between Ben and the three men, holding the gun up and moving it from one thug, to Ritz, to the second thug and back again; calm and cold as stone.

“I ain’t police,” Callum said, voice steady, “But I was in the army. So don’t think I can’t and won’t use this.”

“He’s trained, boss,” one of the thugs muttered, presumably seeing full well that Callum was holding the gun correctly; meaning he did indeed know how to use it.

Ben smirked and sauntered forward to stand beside Callum as Ritz sneered nastily, embarrassed and furious at having been disarmed by someone he had deemed harmless.

“You got your man fighting your battles for you, Benny?” he mocked. It was obvious that he was trying to get Ben angry and defensive. To humiliate him for having Callum be the one to ‘save the day’.

It didn’t work. It had taken time for Ben to truly learn that he didn’t have to face everything alone, but he knew it well by this point. Callum had seen to that. Being deaf had taught Ben a lot. That it was ok to accept help every now and again; that it wasn’t weak to ask for it. That he and Callum were stronger together when they helped each other.

“I’ve got my man fighting my battles _with_ me,” Ben corrected, cocking his head with a smirk. “I would suggest leaving, boys. Though thanks for stopping by, and I’ll be keeping this,” he nodded towards the gun. “Appreciate the gift, thanks Ritz.”

Ritz spat on the floor. “And you think I won’t just come back for you both…”

“I don’t think so,” Ben interrupted. “Or a little birdy or twenty might hear how Ritz and his cronies got outdone by a deaf boy and a boy in blue,” he motioned at the CCTV camera hidden in the corner of the room. “But I mean, we could keep that just between us…”

“We don’t want that getting out, boss,” the thug said, adamant.

“And I will keep that between us,” Ben said, “So long as I never see your faces – or any kind of revenge from you – here ever again. Do we have a deal, Ritz? Consider my silence my debt paid.”

Ritz was practically vibrating with fury, but he pursed his lips and gave one short, sharp nod in agreement. “Deal,” he spat. Without another word he twisted around and stormed out of the garage, shouting at his men until they followed him out.

As soon as they left the garage Callum staggered and passed the gun to Ben like it was on fire. “Ugh,” he exclaimed, “The last time I held a gun I shot Mick.” His hands were shaking.

Ben quickly bent to place the gun on the floor – not too far away in case Ritz got any foolish ideas about coming back – and moved to hold onto Callum, one arm at his waist, the other collecting one of Callum’s shaking hands in his own.

“Callum,” he said gently, moving his head until he caught Callum’s eyes. Callum had been struggling a little recently – deciding very quickly that police training wasn’t for him, more frequent nightmares, certain things he encountered making him zone out or jumpy – “Callum, are you ok?”

“I’m fine,” Callum breathed out, still a little pale, but in control, “Are you?” he asked, eyes suddenly roving over Ben’s face, lifting his free hand to place it against Ben’s cheek; where the gun muzzle had pressed against it.

“I’m sorry,” Ben murmured, “I’m so sorry, babe. I thought he was still in prison. I told him I was out of the game…”

“I know, Ben. I know,” Callum reassured him. “I know it isn’t your fault. I’m just glad I was here to help you get out of it.”

“You were proper badass, babe,” Ben said,“The way you disarmed him was one of the hottest things I have ever seen you do.”

Callum’s cheeks flushed a little, “I guess what police training I did actually came in handy for something, huh? All that role play with the banana."

Ben laughed. “Not just the police training," he added, because yes, while Callum acting overly innocent and harmless to only quickly disarm Ritz was impressive, it was his communication that had really been quick-thinking. "Good idea to use sign language.”

Callum finally smiled, small and pleased, “And you were so against learning it at first,” he teased.

Because that, _that_ had been their secret weapon. When Ben had been looking at Callum, when Ritz had had Callum on his knees, Callum hadn’t actually been wringing and fidgeting his hands; he had been subtly signing to Ben from across the room. So Ben had had a notion of what Callum’s plan was, and when he had audibly said ‘Yes, I’ll do it’, it had been in response to Callum more than it was what Ritz had wanted to hear.

“Yes, well,” Ben said, “Thanks to you and Frankie, it’s saved our arses more than once.” He moved his hand up from Callum’s waist to press over his heart, which was still beating wildly, “Hey,” he said softly, searching Callum’s face, “Are you sure you’re ok?”

“I’m actually feeling alright,”

“That’s the adrenaline talking, babe.”

“I know,” Callum said. “Not felt this kind of adrenaline rush in a while.”

“Not even when we’re in bed?”

“The dangerous kind of rush, Ben,” Callum shook his head with another smile; Ben’s tease having had the desired effect.

Ben knew it was something he’d have to keep an eye on; this incident, Callum coming down from this kind of rush as the adrenaline wore off might trigger memories from the army, or his kidnapping.

“I think I deserve the afternoon off,” Ben announced. “I’ll put that safe somewhere,” he nodded towards the gun. “And then we can go home, yeah? We’ll take the lunch you brought me with us.”

Callum smile grew a little bigger, “You’d better enjoy that lunch, Ben. I went through a lot to get it to you.”

Ben grinned back, pulling Callum gently down for a kiss, raking his hands through Callum’s hair in an attempt to sort out the mess Ritz had made of it, remove Ritz's touch as best he could. As Callum moved back, several loose strands fell forward at the front. Ben moved them aside.

“I’m sure I will,” Ben said, “And since you came in here with lunch and _then_ bested three thugs, you deserve to be spoiled this afternoon.”

“So do you,” Callum countered, like he always did, serious again, his hold on Ben tightening. “I wasn’t the only one in danger Ben. When he was pointing that gun at you…”

“This ain’t my first rodeo, babe.”

Callum did _not_ look appeased.

“Ok, ok, point taken. We can spoil each other. Whatever we need,” Ben allowed. “What do you want to do? We can snuggle up with a movie?” Ben suggested.

“Or we could…” Callum started, subconsciously licking his bottom lip.

“Could what?” Ben encouraged knowingly, hand finding its way to one of Callum’s glorious thighs, because hell, he was feeling all that adrenaline too. “Have mind blowing, life-affirming sex?”

Callum surged forwards to kiss him again, moaning quietly, and god, was Ben Mitchell smitten with this man. This wonderful lunch-delivering, sign-languaging, gun-disarming, beautiful man.

“I’ll take that as a yes then,” Ben grinned. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not quite sure where this came from. I started it back before the kidnap/boat week so ended up changing it accordingly. I wanted to see Callum put at risk from an old contact of Ben's, but hey, we've had plenty of that content the last few weeks!  
> Anyway, here's some more of it for you. With some bonus badass Ben and Callum!
> 
> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed. Comments/kudos/bookmarks are much appreciated. Thanks also to everyone who has reacted/commented on 'Half a Bag of Crisps', it means a lot and I will reply to comments asap!
> 
> Also how amazing was the 'I love you' episode? Squeeeee!


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